Problem with Guest's end of Stay Clean

[Simon690]

Had a guest who originally booked for a month, then extended to 2, then to 3, then added a final extra week.  All good, and glad for the business.  To recognise the guest's long stay i offered a reduced rate for the extra week - being the first week of the calendar month I was even hesitant to allow this week to be booked, as many guests are looking for exact calendar month stays.

One week before checkout I reminded the guest of the terms with regards the end of stay clean (which are also detailed in the listing). A 2-hour post-stay clean is included in the price paid, but if additional hours are required these will be billed at £18/hr (had the booking originally been for 3 months I would most likely have increased the cleaning charge to cover more hours).  Most previous guests have left the property requiring less than, or if more than 2hours, only slightly.  Rarely have i had to charge for additional hours.  Of course, the charge is within my gift to waive should I feel the guest merits it (for being easy to deal with/ going above and beyond were issues to have arisen).

At checkout, it becomes apparent that the guest has done zero cleaning, which after a 3-month stay means there is a considerable amount of work needed to restore the property to the required condition for the next guest who arrives midday the next day (24 hours later).  I take some photos of some of the issues, and get stuck in.  Nowhere has been touched.  Bathroom, bedroom, sitting room, kitchen, hallway, deep dirt everywhere.  8 hours later (at 8pm) i finally stop for the night.  I message the guest to say I was surprised at the condition the property was left in.  No response.  Next morning, as I am still cleaning and preparing for the next guest, I sent a payment request for 3 additional hours cleaning (half of the extra 6, as a compromise).  The guest refuses to pay, says that it is mean spirited of me to ask for more money after the amount they had paid for the 3 months, and in any case, the property was not dirty to require so much time to clean.   The guest also says that they are not prepared to pay for my time - the additional charge should only be for a professional cleaner.

Escalating to Airbnb achieves nothing, they side with the guest, my photos were insufficient to backup my claim.  

I am dumbfounded.  Where is the host support?  What proof would suffice?  My time has value, and as i don't know how long it will take to do the post-stay clean it makes no sense to employ a cleaner.  In any case, I am no slouch when it comes to preparing a property - the charge made is fair.

Have lost all confidence in Airbnb to adjudicate issues.  And for guests to respect the house rules they sign up to when they book.

Constructive thoughts welcome.

[Simon690]

As for the extending reservation, no the guest did not pay the cleaning fee 3 times.  Just the once.  Adding another month or two to a booking does not add an additional cleaning fee.  The reservation is merely amended, rather than a new reservation created.  So no, the guest did not pay for 6 hours already.

[Ute42]

.

@Simon690 

I didn't know that about the cleaning fee. That's a different story then of course.

[Elena87]

@Simon690 

In theory, guests should return a property in the way it was found and if you have rules on your listing, guest agrees with it.

In practice, if someone has been in a place for a few months your street smart senses tell you the odds are against you seeing a showroom shine when you have the keys back - plus for arbitrary fines or fees you would wish to charge a guest, you will only get this via airbnb if the guest consents to pay it.  If the guest flicks the v's, too bad, then there is the vagaries of having airbnb as an adjudicator, good luck with that.

Ex nunc either look at a different platform, where you have actual control over a proper deposit after a guest departs  or price it in to your listing price, preparing for the worst - you could even give some cashback if the place is left in an exemplary manner.

Only giving yourself a 24 hour turn around after a long term booking is a rookie error (unless you are a  four weetabix Stakhanovite equipped with a totr karacher steam cleaner.)

[Simon690]

I agree, 'in theory' the guests should leave the place as near to the condition in which in was handed over as possible, which is why i always clean so thoroughly beforehand.  With this guest, all had seemed well, no issues, felt a 24 -hour turnaround would be fine, i even informed the outgoing guest of this short turnaround.  HIs attitude was most mystifying.  As i said to him at checkout, with regards breakages, if guests tell me about anything that has been broken i usually just shrug it off as one of those things (if it is a small kitchen item, say), but if guests try to hide breakages from me then i will charge full price for the replacements.  Same with cleaning - if guest has been an easy guest to deal with, and they have made an honest effort, then i will waive an extra hour, even two.  But this guy did nothing - he swept the leaves in the front yard into a small pile, and that was that.  Thought that was the last part of his cleaning.  Indeed, it was the only.  

Seriously considering other platforms - to ask for a deposit, and then for deductions to be made in such instances only if the guest agrees, is less than useless.  I was astounded at the lack of Airbnb understanding and support.  Why, I asked them, would I risk upsetting the guest and potentially not getting as good feedback as otherwise, were the things i was claiming not as stated?  Why make it up?  For an extra £50?  No way.